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An interesting endorsement of John Tory

Posted by Scott Tribe on January 13, 2008, at 11:35 am |

When you’re an embattled leader of a party that has some of your grassroots members wanting you removed, I’m not sure whether an endorsement by a major daily that is more or less an ideological opponent of yours is good or bad, but that is what the Toronto Star has done in calling for John Tory to remain Progressive Conservative leader in Ontario:

The party has a better chance of mounting an effective opposition to Premier Dalton McGuinty over the next four years and fighting the Liberals in the next election if it stays near the political centre where most Ontarians’ sensibilities lie. That’s why the party should give Tory and his progressive brand of conservatism another chance…While the Star endorsed the Liberals in the election, we firmly believe Ontario needs devoted and compassionate politicians like Tory.

No argument from me that a swing to the far right by the PC’s would probably not go over well in Ontario and leave them further away then now of being elected, but the question is whether Tory is the guy to keep the Progressive Conservatives in the moderate middle, or if someone else out there in PC land that is a moderate that can do a better job needs to take the reins (though no names come to my mind off the top of my head – Diane Cunningham perhaps?). The Star is correct though that Dalton McGuinty faced a similar crisis in his leadership, and he’s now a 2-term Premier, so perhaps John Tory can also be that same type of guy.

May as well ask Dalton McGuinty for his opinion on the matter. I mean, come on.

As for the conventional wisdom about how a "swing to the far right" would go over electorally, well, all the wise heads at the Star and elsewhere said precisely the same thing before the 1995 and 1999 Ontario elections, and we know how those turned out.